27 September 2013

Fox diner

Fox diner © Niusia Winczewska

Niusia Winczewska's photographs of Fox diners bring an instant feel of familiarity. Her deserted London streets filled with cheap food cafes recall typical neighboroughs of the East-end without the rubbish scattered around. 
On the pavement, a wooden box mimics the stores in the background : inside are two bowls in which passers-by can share their food scraps with foxes


Dark Mountain: Issue 1
Dark Mountain issue 1

In her statement, Winczewska is keen that the focus of sustainability is the preservation of Life, all Life.
Not that it is her intention but it brings to mind what Dark mountain exposes in the manifesto Uncivilisation about the impact of the Anthropocene on the planet (now is not a time to mourn the extinction of the human civilisation but a time to focus on wildlife protection; on saving the last species of the plant and animal world which can be saved).
At the contrary somehow, Winczewska's design bridges the gap between human and animal, domesticated and wild. 
Inciting gestures of kindness from one specie to another, the box becomes a catalyst of urban wilderness; the fox, which status moves from pest to cleaner, becomes more visible
Let's just wish that wild species will not feed on junk-food left-overs or need to help humanity to be more regarded.























Howl - The Altered Landscape © Amy Stein


For now Winczewska's concept goes beyond the radical views : by not investing in prophetic outcomes, focussing on steps for the sustainability of all species, it provokes narratives of hope and further encounters in the night.


Thanks to Niusia Winczewska






21 August 2013

Walking


web Glasbak  Jordi Bover - voorkeur Andy
The way © glasbak

The dance between nature and us, tiny creatures wandering amongst its valleys for food, shelter and more.

Cafe Hallo - Mille plateaux © vlorisfisser

As the nomads of A Thousand plateaus lit their fire, the stories they tell are carried by the smoke; a smoke that draws the contours of an old consciousness, infiltrating the hills and beyond.
Time to practice walking. Time to get lost and pass potential thresholds.

St. Moritz Art Masters 2012




Hermit © Thiago Rocha Pitta/ St. Moritz Art Masters




1 February 2013

The watchers being watched

Untitled (Predators; Indian Springs, NV), 2010, C-print © Trevor Paglen, Courtesy of Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne and Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco.
Untitled (Predators; Indian Springs, NV) © Trevor Paglen © Galerie Thomas Zandler

A monotonous sky is interrupted by a blurry aircraft on its left corner; a forest landscape spreading wide in the horizon reveals scintillating but undefined architectural objects in its middle part. 
The main intrigue in Paglen's photographs comes from their distant viewpoint : what are we watching ? where is the scene taken from ? where is the viewer positioned in relation to the event ? 
Who is watching what ? 

They watched the moon © Trevor Paglen © Altman Siegle gallery

The skies photographs Predators reveal the secret activities of Drones : Paglen uses data from amateur satellite watchers to track and photograph classified aircrafts - spy satellites and predator drones -, photographing them photographing him, watching those who are watching us as he puts it.
In They watched the moona super strenght telescope reveals a 'listening station', a top-secret U.S. governmental site, a covert base so remote it cannot be seen by unaided civilian eye from any point on earth.
Physical intersection between Earth and the Universe, the station listens to communications from the Earth as they escape towards the moon and bounce back towards the Earth, in an auditive mise-en-abyme.